


Heaven's Garden

by Urby



Series: Melodies of Life [13]
Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Azurrin Week 2018, Death from Old Age, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-17
Updated: 2018-09-17
Packaged: 2019-07-13 10:09:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16015721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Urby/pseuds/Urby
Summary: The first king and queen of Valla make their final journey together. Azurrin week 2018, September 16th: Dream / War





	Heaven's Garden

**Author's Note:**

> An unusual way to end both Azurrin week and the _Return to Innocence_ series (which I intend to continue, but I am telling out of order) and one I've wanted to tell for a while. If you follow me on Tumblr, you may understand a bit of what is going on here.
> 
> A "songling" is a baby siren, and is similar in appearance to a nudibranch.

The first king of New Valla stayed by the first queen's side as she faded away.

"Please don't be sad," she said, her voice hoarse with age and rest.

The first king did not say anything. He patted her hand calmly, sensing the ebbing strength in her fingers.

She was too exhausted to sing words, but she hummed gently, singing their favorite song until the breath left her for the last time.

"I will bring her back to the ocean," said the first king, who was king no longer. New Valla was in good hands, and would continue to be for some time, he knew. It was not up to him to decide how it would grow or fall after that.

Clad in funeral veils, the first king and first queen walked out to sea. The water was icy but welcoming, and the king felt old scales ripple through his skin as he touched it. He kept walking on. Icy waters reached his waist, his chest, lapped over his head. He could live for decades, perhaps even centuries, with the first dragon's blood so strong in his veins, but he knew this was the right thing to do.

Deeper and deeper the two of them went, embracing the cold and darkness that felt more and more like coming home.

* * *

Divers need to be careful in the shallows, because reef sirens and songlings make their home there.

There are sirens for every body of water, of course, but the ones lurking in the reefs tempt in such gentle ways that even a wary diver can be entranced. They are so good at hiding, and if they are found, glow in such whimsical and soft ways that it takes a strong mind not to want to stop and admire them. Once the sirens sense a will caught in such a way, they sing stories and give the mind dreams to occupy them while the siren feeds on the psionic energy that comes from being enthralled.

While their feedings might not be fatal, there are greater things lurking in the reef that might take advantage of a sluggish diver.

How strange, then, that there would be a white and blue songling amongst a reef that would be much safer for a siren with reds and oranges - as if it wanted to be found, or that it drifted there, somehow. Of course, knowing that it's a songling makes it easier to resist, but still: you can't help but feel like you are safe, as if you are at home, in the presence of this little creature.

The songling spins for you a dream, and it is an unusual one for a siren to sing about: it is one of a war between kingdoms, one so long that everyone has forgotten why they resent each other. As their peoples die and the war rages, a hidden kingdom grows dark with power. And then...hope glitters, all is made right again. A prince with a heart strong enough to unite everyone is born, and under his lead, the kingdoms band together to defeat the hidden king. Terrible secrets are revealed, and the power they held no longer binds the kingdoms. It is as if everyone woke from a terrible nightmare, and from there, the people come back together and rebuild.

Its dream-song finished, the songling curls up. It is too late to regret stopping to admire it - it has already fed. At least now it won't trap another diver for a while.

But what a dream it spun for you...never had you imagined something so vividly, as if you were there, feeling the pain and then relief of thousands. The songling will grow up to be a very powerful siren, if it lives. Something you can't help but doubt, because of how ill-camouflaged it is now that it is resting.

A sleeping songling is safe to handle, and you gather it up in your hands. About a half-hour's swim away is another reef, drier than this one, but still churning with life. The white and blue songling will have better hiding places in bony coral than this ruddy forest, but it is too small to make the swim on its own.

It's foolish and something you may regret in the future. But the blue bands on the songling glow softly as you swim, and you feel at home.


End file.
